LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Virginia Wesleyan extended its win streak to an NCAA-best 43 games, while Trine and Texas Lutheran rounded out an unchanged top three in this week’s NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, the Association announced on Tuesday.
The (43-0) Marlins, who have trailed just one inning all season, are the No. 1 team in the Division III national rankings for a ninth straight week. They cruised into this weekend’s Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) tournament championship series against sixth seed Bridgewater with victories over Guilford, Lynchburg and Roanoke.
Tournament top seed Virginia Wesleyan, whose last loss came June 5, 2025 to Trine in the NCAA Division III championship series, will be vying for a record 17th ODAC title this weekend.
Meanwhile, reigning national champion Trine (29-3) went 3-1 this past week, splitting with Alma and sweeping Kalamazoo to remain ranked second. No. 3 Texas Lutheran (38-4) won three straight games to capture a record 10th Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament crown, including rolling by Ozarks, 8-1, behind Serena Gonzalez’s two homers in Monday’s championship game.
A split with previously-ranked Central dropped WashU (26-4-1) from fourth to seventh, behind idle East Texas Baptist (34-4), which stayed put at No. 6.
Ahead of them, Redlands (35-4) moved up one place to fourth after a three-game sweep of Pomona-Pitzer to close out the regular season, which extended the Bulldogs’ program-best win streak to 25 games and included head coach Jose Ortega’s 200th career victory.
Linfield (37-6) regained two more spots it lost in recent weeks, taking over the No. 5 position following a win over Lewis & Clark and a ranked sweep of Pacific Lutheran.
The biggest mover of the week, though, was Swarthmore (33-8), which surged seven spots to 15th on the strength of another unbeaten week, which included the Centennial Conference tournament crown. Similarly, Saint Benedict (31-9) went 4-0 and secured the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title to gain five places to No. 20.
Rochester (31-7) and MIT (31-7), who both dropped off the ballot last week, are not only back receiving votes, but in the final two spots in the rankings, at No. 24 and 25, respectively, after combining to go 11-1 since then.
The NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll is selected by 10 NCAA Division III head coaches representing the 10 NCAA regions. Current 2026 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.
NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll – May 5, 2026
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
2026 Record |
Previous |
|
1 |
Virginia Wesleyan (10) |
250 |
43-0 |
1 |
|
2 |
Trine |
240 |
29-3 |
2 |
|
3 |
Texas Lutheran |
230 |
38-4 |
3 |
|
4 |
Redlands |
220 |
35-4 |
5 |
|
5 |
Linfield |
210 |
37-6 |
7 |
|
6 |
East Texas Baptist |
200 |
34-4 |
6 |
|
7 |
WashU |
190 |
26-4-1 |
4 |
|
8 |
Saint Mary’s (Minn.) |
180 |
35-5 |
8 |
|
9 |
Belhaven |
170 |
37-9 |
9 |
|
10 |
Simpson |
160 |
32-5 |
10 |
|
11 |
Mount Union |
150 |
29-5 |
12 |
|
12 |
WPI |
140 |
38-2 |
15 |
|
13 |
Huntingdon |
130 |
31-10 |
13 |
|
14 |
Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
120 |
30-7-1 |
14 |
|
15 |
Swarthmore |
110 |
33-8 |
22 |
|
16 |
Tufts |
100 |
29-9 |
11 |
|
17 |
Rowan |
90 |
36-8 |
17 |
|
18 |
Stockton |
80 |
30-7 |
16 |
|
19 |
Husson |
70 |
33-4 |
20 |
|
20 |
Saint Benedict |
60 |
31-9 |
25 |
|
21 |
Westfield State |
50 |
35-1 |
24 |
|
22 |
Pacific Lutheran |
40 |
34-10 |
21 |
|
23 |
Wartburg |
24 |
29-9 |
23 |
|
24 |
Rochester |
15 |
31-7 |
NR |
|
25 |
MIT |
13 |
31-7 |
NR |
Others receiving votes: St. Thomas (Houston) 3, Colby 2, Calvin 1, Manhattanville 1 and Muhlenberg 1.
Dropped out: Muskingum and Transylvania.
2026 NFCA Division III Top 25 Committee
The NFCA is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded coaches polls and All-America awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to awards, to in-person events and National Convention.
Learn more about the NFCA and consider joining our lineup of over 7,000 coaches today!
